'Home Alone' movie house for sale

Chicago-area home where young Macaulay Culkin battled bungling burglars is listed for $2.4 million by the family who played host to film crew.

Posted by Teresa at MSN Real Estate on Thursday, May 5, 2011 9:14 AM

The house that a young Macaulay Culkin defended from home invaders in the classic 1990 film "Home Alone"can now be yours.

The couple that owned the 1920s Colonial home in Winnetka, Ill., during the making of the movie are empty nesters and ready to downsize. They are selling the 4,250-square-foot house with four bedroom suites on a half-acre lot about 30 miles outside of Chicago. The listing price is $2.4 million.

"We don't think about it all that much, and yet there are times we are reminded that the house is somewhat of an icon," owner Cynthia Abendshien says on a video advertising the property. She mentions once being asked by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to show the house to the Japanese ambassador.

She and her husband, John, bought the home in 1988 and lived there with their daughter, Lauren, during the five and a half months the film crew was there. The house was big enough for the family and the movie cast and crew, the owners said in a Q&A provided by Coldwell Banker.

Lauren, two years younger than the film's star, played with Culkin and his younger brother, Kieren. The family has lots of mementos of the filming and got to know some of the stars, including Catherine O�Hara and Daniel Stern, who they said were particularly nice to the neighborhood kids. 

The Abendshien family was first approached by producer John Hughes' location scout when they were living in their previous home, also a center hall Colonial, and the filmmaker was making "Uncle Buck." But they didn't want the disruption of filming while their home was on the market. Eighteen months later, "Home Alone" director Chris Columbus knocked on their door and said "Are you ready yet?"

The house is within walking distance of downtown Winnetka, a wealthy bedroom community of Chicago.

You can see multiple photos of the interior, floor plans and a video tour and interview with the owners by listing agent Marissa Hopkins here. ("Leave your cares behind, not your family members," she advises.) The house seems to be full of windows and light, and we especially like the screened porch.

If your kids are hoping to slide down the front staircase into the snow, however, be warned: The film crew had to build a ramp for young Kevin to be able to do that.

�Her Alibi:� Tom Selleck�s House in Connecticut

by HOOKEDONHOUSES on JUNE 13, 2011

In the comedy �Her Alibi,� Tom Selleck plays a murder-mystery writer who falls in love with the beautiful Paulina Porizkova, who may or may not be a murderer. I loved it when it came out in 1989, and his house in Connecticut was a big reason why.

I remember being in jaw-dropping awe of it back then, so I was excited to watch it again this week to get another look at it.

The newer addition built onto the original house is modern in an �80s kind of way with windows and doors that really don�t belong with the old home. I had forgotten about that until I watched the movie again.

The first shot of the interior of the house is a long, lingering pan across the stone-walled great room and up the open staircase to the front door as Phil Blackwood (Selleck) and Nina (Porizkova) walk in:

Even though it�s supposed to be in Connecticut, the movie was actually filmed in Baltimore, Maryland. And from what I can tell, they used the actual interiors of the house for the shoot. Either that, or they built some pretty elaborate sets. (If anyone knows for sure, fill us in!)

According to a commenter on the Baltimore Sun�s forums: �They filmed a lot in Baltimore County. The house where Tom Selleck�s character lived is somewhere on Belfast Road near Glyndon.�

As I was researching this post, I thought it was interesting to learn that the Production Designer was Henry Bumstead and the Set Decoration was done by James W. Payne, the same team that worked on another one of my favorite movie houses�Funny Farm. (You can see my post about that one here.)

Tom Selleck was 44 when he made this movie. �Magnum, P.I.� had just come to an end of its 8-year run, and he�d had a hit with �3 Men and a Baby� two years before (1987).

Paulina Porizkova, one of the original Supermodel Celebrities of the �80s, was born in Czechoslovakia. She was 24 when she made this movie and married Ric Ocasekthat same year. They�re still together and have two sons.

The kitchen doesn�t look too outdated, really�which is surprising considering that this was the �80s, and �80s decorating doesn�t always age well:

There�s a windowseat in the kitchen:

The eating area has a lower, beamed ceiling:

From this angle you can see the arched window above the kitchen cabinets:

The Guest Room that Nina stays in has an arched window, too:

Phil�s Bedroom:

When Phil has a dream about Nina coming into his bedroom to kill him in the middle of the night, we get to see all of the rafters and what appears to be a loft above his bed:

Phil�s Writing Study has a desk in the dormer:

Did you know Tom Selleck was �thisclose� to being Indiana Jones instead of Harrison Ford? To take the role he would have had to break his �Magnum, P.I.�contract, and he didn�t think it was right to do that.

Ironically, the shooting of the pilot for �Magnum� was delayed for so many months that he would have had time to film Raiders of the Lost Ark after all. (Makes you wonder how different that movie would have been with him as Indy, doesn�t it?)

Phil talks on the phone in the lower-level family room, moments before Nina accidentally shoots him with an arrow from the backyard:

Nina takes a late-night swim in the pool:

Moments later, the house blows up, and suspicious minds think Nina might have had something to do with it:

But never fear�the house appears to be completely intactand undamaged in the scenes that follow (that�s the kind of movie this is�you can�t think about any of the plot points too hard!).

Here�s a better look at the addition off the side of the house:

Nina practices her archery skills in the backyard, giving us a look at the back of the house:

Does anyone else remember seeing this movie in the �80s and falling in love with the house? Do you still like it after all these years?

Ralph Lauren's Private Parrot Cay Villa

Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos is the northern Caribbean�s pre-eminent private island. It combines nature � 1000 unspoilt acres, including a mile-long powdered beach � with understated style, cosseting service and smiling staff. The resort is an elegant mix of glorious nature, luxury, comfort and unparalleled privacy. Its rooms are perfectly designed to maximize light and to allow guests to enjoy breathtaking views of the sea or the island�s natural landscaping and to wake up in the sound of the ocean�s waves.

The resort�s spa called COMO Shambhala Retreat it�s situated just behind the beach and overlooks mangroves and wetlands rich with birds. But that�s not all, because this spa also has one of the world�s most beautiful swimming pools where every guest will probably feel like in paradise.

http://www.parrotcay.como.bz/

http://parrotcay.com/

Ron Popeil Beverly Hills home

We first heard about this one back in December but never gave inventor and pitchman Ron Popeil's Beverly Hills home the full estate of the day treatment. Popeil become part of American households through his Ronco ads (if you need a reminder, one of his infomercials is after the jump). Popeil sold his company in 2005 for a reported $55 million.

Popeil's gated Beverly Hills retreat is an English country-style house on more than an acre of land that includes a tennis court, a pool with a deck area and a two-story guesthouse. The main house has beautiful wood ceilings, slate floors and skylights. The master suite has a fireplace and French windows which open onto a sun deck with a spa tub. This home remains listed at $5.995 million.

Gallery: Ron Popeil In Beverly Hills

 

http://www.luxist.com/2010/02/21/ron-popeil-in-beverly-hills-estate-of-the-day/

Kelly Clarkson Lists Her Nashville Home

The Real Estalker alerted us to the fact that Kelly Clarkson, the first American Idol winner, is on the move. Clarkson has listed the Nashville home she bought in 2007 for $1.49 million. The Real Estalker covered this home in April 2008 so we can do a little compare and contrast with the listing pictures. It looks like, given the current very staged decor, Clarkson has already moved on but not before she changed some of the landscaping, added white plantation shutters, darkened the hardwood floors and went a little crazy with the paint selections. Practically every room is a different vivid color. Clarkson also upgraded the kitchen with green cabinets and new stainless steel appliances. Clarkson has listed the home for $1.449 million which means she will take a loss on the home.

http://www.luxist.com/2010/10/26/kelly-clarkson-lists-her-nashville-home/